


Time and Time Again

by Lightning_Spark



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I'm Sorry, Josie still loves Penelope, Major character death - Freeform, Mental Breakdown, Not Really Character Death, Penelope loves Josie, Penelope needs a hug, This is really sad, Time Loop, posie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightning_Spark/pseuds/Lightning_Spark
Summary: "Its impossible to tell really," Penelope said, "how many times I've gone through this,"Penelope is stuck in a time loop that always ends the same way, with Josie dying. She will do anything to save her and now must push herself to the brink to stop the loop and make sure Josie survives the day. However, as she repeats the loop over and over again, the emotional strain might destroy her before she can save the one she loves.





	1. Failure 786

Penelope held tightly to Josie’s body, clutching it as if her life depended on it. The girl was covered in blood, not just any blood, Josie’s to be specific. Blood that was spilling from the bullet hole in Josie’s chest, “Penelope?” Josie asked, her voice faint and beginning to fade away. She started coughing after speaking, and Penelope turned her to the side like she had done so many times before and allowed the dying girl to cough up blood onto the freshly cut grass. Even in the darkness of night, the bold red of the blood shone brightly against the green. 

“I got you,” Penelope said with tears in her eyes, stroking her hair the way she had when they dated, “I may have failed this time, but I’m going to save you, I promise,”  
The dark haired girl had seen this sight too many times before, but each time it hurt like it was the first time, “What?” Josie said, coughing more blood onto the grass and a little onto Penelope’s pants. She was struggling to breathe now, Penelope knew that it was only a matter of time before she was gone, “This time?” Her speaking became more labored, and her eyes started to flutter, Penelope knew that she was fighting to stay alive. 

Part of her wished that Josie would just let go so she could go back and try again, the other part of her couldn’t bear to lose Josie again, “It's impossible to tell really,” Penelope said as she kissed Josie, the taste of the dying girl's blood filling her mouth. She needed to feel her loves lips one more time, needed the strength to continue. When she pulled away, she finished her statement from before, “how many times I’ve gone through this,” 

Josie tried to speak, tried to say something, but all of her strength was gone. The realization that she was going to die made its way through her mind. Her grip on Penelope's arm tightened for one final time as Penelope held her. Josie could see the love in Penelope’s eyes and the deep sadness that haunted them; tears poured down the dark-haired girls cheeks. She took notice as to how calm Penelope was, she was somber, but there was calm within her tears. Josie never saw Penelope cry; she knew that the girl never let anyone see that, but here she was shedding tears and holding her close as Josie let out her last breath. 

Penelope left Josie’s final breath leave her, and her eyes close. She took in a deep breath as she heard people run up behind her and she knew that it was Lizzie and Alaric. She layed Josie’s bloodied body onto the grass and started to walk away without a word; she couldn’t watch their reactions again. 

Lizzie bolted past her and seeming to ignore her while Alaric took notice of Penelope current state. The blood that was covering her usually perfect clothes, the tears streaming down her face, and the haunted look in her eyes that Alaric had seen all too much in the past. He grabbed ahold of her arms, rooting her to the spot where she stood, “What happened?” He yelled out, sounding more aggressive that he had intended to be. Penelope could see the mix of fear, sadness, and horror on his face. At this point, she knew it all too well. She had seen this too many times as he exclaimed those same words that she had memorized it. 

Penelope shook her head, she didn’t have time to explain, and she didn’t have the strength to do so, “I’ll save her,” she said without looking up and meeting the grieving father's eyes while he looked at her in confusion as if he was trying to process her words. 

“What?” He asked tears in his eyes. Lizzie’s sobs filled the air, and out of the corner of Penelope’s eye, she could see the blond clutching her twin's body, rocking back and forth, “What do you mean?!” he yelled, so panicked and frantic that he couldn’t contain his emotions. Penelope could see his breath in the cold night air.  
As he yelled, Penelope’s vision started to blur and fade. It would only be a matter of seconds before she began again, started everything again. She finally tore her vision from the dirt ground and looked up at Alaric, “I won’t fail again, I can’t,” she said, her voice breaking as she spoke. She had very little strength left; she couldn’t do this again. She wasn't strong enough to do this again. 

Alaric started to question her, but his voice fell on deaf ears as Penelope’s hearing started to go in and out just like it always did when she was about to begin again. After what felt like an eternity, her vision finally went black, and she was left with nothingness. 

. . .

It always left a little like she was falling, falling through a void of darkness. The first few times it had happened, she was scared, now the sensation only brought her comfort. It was a sign that she was going to get another shot to stop it. She never knew how long she was falling, but it always refreshed her in a way. It was like the way she slept during this whole endeavor. 

Penelope felt herself land on her back, hitting the soft material of her bed. The second she hit the bed she opened her eyes, her alarm went off just as she did so. She looked up at the ceiling, noticing the rays of morning sun coming through her window. 

There was a sudden pounding at the door, and even though she knew it was coming, it still scared Penelope a little, “Penelope! I need my book back!” an all too familiar voice yelled through her door.

The dark haired girl pulled herself off the bed, grabbing the book on teleportation charms from her desk where she had left it, and opened the door as Penelope opened the door and saw the familiar and living face of Josie Saltzman. 

Josie only grabbed the book from Penelope, “You better not have written in it, my dad would kill me,” she said as she walked away, leaving the girl standing in her doorway. 

Penelope slowly closed her door and leaned against it, breathing in deeply as she did so. She felt the weight of all the emotions that she had pushed down for so long start to rise to the surface. Penelope slid down the door, landing on the ground with a thud. Two tears fell from her eyes before she had the chance to pull herself together, “Come on, Penelope” she said, her voice strained, “what did you do wrong?”

She ran through the events of the previous day as she tried to find anything that might point her in the right direction, “You have to save her,” she said as she stared at the wall across the room with a stern gaze. Penelope looked exhausted; her eyes hard yet gave proof that she was breaking from the inside out. Soon Penelope had pulled herself together and got dressed. She put on the same set of clothes that she always pulled on. After she was dressed, she grabbed her watch, phone, backpack, notebook, and whatever cash and left her room. 

Penelope started running through her different ideas about how to save Josie and made her way towards the library. She passed by Josie and Lizzie talking to Hope as she did so, Josie was smiling and laughing like she always was during that conversation. Hearing that laugh gave Penelope the smallest bit of hope, “7 hours, 56 minutes,” Penelope whispered as she opened the door to the library. The dark haired girl turned back to look at Josie just one final time, and the other girl met her gaze. Josie quickly turned away, but Penelope couldn't break herself to look away from the girl, “You can’t fail,”


	2. Failure 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope's day didn't start out great, and it only got worse from there.

It was the blaring of her alarm that woke Penelope up, the sound of a song that she had long grown to hate filling the air as she was brought back to reality from her otherwise perfect sleep. The raven-haired girl couldn’t help but let out a groan as she started to fumble for her phone. It took her much too long even find the source of the noise to turn off the alarm as she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes and merely sit up to turn it off; this caused her to clumsily knock the phone over onto the floor where it continued to play the song, Unstoppable by The Score. 

Penelope finally pulled herself off of her bed and leaned down to towards the floor, doing a weird handstand maneuver as she looked under the bed for the phone. It had managed to get just out of her current reach. Even though she knew this, she still tried to grab it, hoping that she could put it towards her with whatever magic should muster in her groggy state. It was always hard for her to do magic in the morning.

After somehow getting herself into a state of concentration, she managed to get the phone into the air and start to bring it towards her. It was almost at her fingertips when there was a sudden pounding at her door, this destroyed her focus and she dropped the phone. The noise that loud and nursing enough that it scared Penelope that it caused her to lose her balance and fall onto the hard wooden floor. 

“Penelope!” The voice yelled right as Penelope hit the ground. 

“Gah!” the raven-haired girl yelled out, unable to contain the little shriek that she let out. 

The voice, which Penelope immediately recognized as the one and only Josie Saltzman, continued, “I need my book back!” then she seems to register that small scream that Penelope had let out as well as the thud of had come from her hitting the floor, “Are you ok?”

Penelope couldn’t stop the lovesick smile that formed on her face when Josie asked if she was ok, “Glad to see you still care,” Penelope called back with sass laced between her words, she had pulled herself off of her cold floor and grabbed Josie’s book on teleportation, she had borrowed it for a paper she had due. She had held back a large amount of sass, making her sound a lot more sincere than she usually did when she spoke to others. Finally, Penelope opened her door, her alarm still playing from underneath her bed. 

Josie stood in her doorway, dressed in her standard school uniform. It took Penelope a second to notice that she was impatient and now suddenly flushed at Penelope’s current state of dress. The girl was just wearing her underwear and a T-shirt, her short hair a mess of curls. The other girl managed to pull herself together, a little too soon in Penelope’s option, “You better not have written in it,” she managed to say as she took the book from the raven-haired girl’s hands. Josie completely ignored what Penelope had just said, and the raven-haired witch knew it, “my dad would kill me,” 

Penelope watched as Josie turned on her heels and started to walk away, “In case you must know,” she called out, stopping Josie just as she got to the stairs, “I’m fine, though I’m definitely going to feel that tomorrow,” 

The witch flashed her a playful smile that was mixed with a flirty one; even with the distance between them, Penelope could see Josie’s cheeks turn red. The brunette, apparently unsure about what to do, dashed down the stairs and out of Penelope’s sight.  
Penelope closed her door, a smirk making its way onto her face as she did so. Her good mood was quickly forgotten when her still playing alarm broke the trance. The witch cursed herself for picking a song that she had previously liked because now it had only pissed her off. 

Once she had gotten her phone back in her hand, this time without the levitation, she turned the painfully annoying alarm off in a huff. She checked the time and saw that 12:40, only twenty minutes until lunch was over. Saturday's lunch always went from 12 to 1 which was why Penelope had an alarm set for 12:30 in case she slept in more than she expected. Sleep was great, and all, but Penelope hated missing meals, especially on the weekends. It was one of the times during the weekends when she got to see Josie.  
Josie always avoided her though she did it even more on the weekends, only talking to her when she needed to like when she needed her book back. During school days they were in some of the same classes and couldn’t get away from each other, much to Penelope’s enjoyment, but on the weekends the pair hardly ever crossed paths. 

. . .

After the whole interaction with Josie, Penelope’s usual morning grogginess was shaken from her, and she was wide awake. She knew that she only a little bit time left to get lunch, so she hurried to get dressed for the day. Penelope pulled on an outfit that she knew for a fact that Josie liked, wanting to look her best for whatever brief interaction that they could have during the rest of the day.

The outfit that she had picked out, which consisted of blue high waisted skinny jeans, a white crop top that showed off her abs, was completed with a pair of heeled black boots. She quickly did her hair, curling it a little and leaving it down like she always did. She did miss being able to put it up into a ponytail, but she still loved the bob for the time being. 

She grabbed her bag, which had her computer and notebook on teleportation, along with her phone. Penelope hated to spend the day inside her room after all the sun was shining and it was the perfect day to study outside  
.  
By the time that she was walking down the stairs, there were less than ten minutes of lunch left. As she walked to the dining hall, she passed Lizzie, Hope, and Josie standing and talking to each other. They were speaking too softly for Penelope to hear all of their conversations, but she could tell that they weren't talking about anything serious due to the smiles on their faces. Right after she had passed the group, she heard Josie burst out laughing at something Lizzie or Hope had said. 

Penelope felt the familiar pang of jealousy burst through her, and she wanted so desperately to be the one to make Josie laugh; she missed being that persons so desperately that it hurt her. Even though her heart was aching, she managed to keep a straight face and force her emotions down once again. She didn’t need the others to know that it hurt her, she wouldn’t tell them that. 

The dining hall was almost entirely empty, save for a few groups of people sitting and talking to each other. No one was eating, and Penelope could see that there was very little food left for her, “What a surprise,” She said softly, not really speaking to anyone in particular

Even though she wasn't talking to anyone, a voice responded, “Huh, what?” Mg asked, walking up to the witch and standing next to her. He was drinking a bottle of animal blood, and Penelope could see that he hated it. 

The raven-haired girl wasn’t really in the mood for talking, but Mg, much like Josie, was always an exception, “Nothing, just there's not much left,” 

“What did you expect P,” The vampire responded with a laughed, shaking her shoulders a little as he spoke, “that's what happens when you come to lunch in the last five minutes, maybe you should get up earlier,” 

Penelope slapped his shoulder, not in a hard way, but in a friendly way to tell him that she was a little pissed off by the comment, “Shut it vamp boy,” She said, all the sass that she had unleashed upon her words. 

Mg seemed to take the message, backing away with a friendly smile, “Don’t mess with Penelope when she’s hungry,” he said, leaving the room and going off to do whatever he needed to do for the day. 

The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes as the boy disappeared from the room, she walked over to where the remains of lunch were and tried to scrounge up something to sustain her until dinner that night. There really was not much left, all of the burgers, sandwiches, and snacks were gone. Though, there was some fruit and vegetables available that would be enough to get Penelope through the day. 

Penelope placed her bag onto a table near the remains of the food as she took two apples from the little fruit that was remaining. After putting both into her bookbag, she moved over to grab water from the ice chest on the ground. It was just a large metal bin with two bottles of water left floating in cold water. The ice had melted long before Penelope had gotten there, so there was just water left in it. 

“No harm in taking two,” Penelope said to herself, her voice hushed so no one would hear her. The other people in the room were starting to clear out, taking their trash to the trashcan a few feet away from her. 

The raven-haired girl had just turned around and started to make her way back to her bag to put the water bottles inside when two boys, ones that she instantly knew were freshmen, slammed into her and knocked her into the ice chest full of water. 

Everything stopped the second she hit the water, people froze, and the two boys that had knocked her into the water looked terrified. Penelope looked up, once she had registered what had just happened, and gave them the fiercest look she could muster. She looked them over as she pulled herself out of the water, her hair and clothes soaked, and she instantly recognized them as werewolves. 

One of them, apparently the braver of the two, spoke first, “S-s-s-sorry,” He stuttered out from his frozen position. Penelope didn’t respond to him, only walked up to where he stood and looked directly into his fearful eyes. She towered over him, standing at least four inches taller. 

Penelope, starting to get cold from the water and wanting to get out of her now ruined and wet jeans just smirked and saw the wolves faces grow even more fearful in the process. She raised her hand and watched the two float into the air. It took only the smallest about of effort for her to do it, her anger acting as fuel for her power. With the flick of her wrist, the raven-haired girl sent the two boys flying into the ice chest that they had just knocked her into. 

The witch grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room, not allowing anyone to step in or do anything to stop her. As she walked out of the dining hall, she called out to the people remaining in the room, “You’re on my list boys!” 

She could practically feel their fear from that statement, and it made her smile as she went back into her room to look for the drying spell that she had stumbled upon three weeks before when she was studying in the library. The raven-haired girl had wanted to try it out after a shower, but she kept forgetting to do it and by the time that she remembered it was always too late. Now was the perfect time to use it. 

She read over her notes on the spell a few times before casting it. She was pleased to find that it worked the first time that she tried it. Once she threw it, a wave of warmth passed over her, and she felt her clothes dry themselves and saw in the mirror her hair dry on its own. Her hair was left in its natural curls and waves. 

She couldn’t help but smile at her success on the first try, it was rare that she got a spell to work on the first try. Hell, it was rare that she got a spell to work when she needed it to because believe it or not, Penelope Park struggled with spellcasting more than others knew She was great with non-verbal spells, but ones that required ritualistic casting were very difficult for her. 

Being able to complete this spell, no matter how small and simple it was, on the first try was definitely a good thing in her otherwise pretty negative day. Maybe it was a sign that things were looking up a bit. 

. . . 

As much as Penelope hated to admit it, she spent the rest of the day working on her teleportation paper. The raven-haired witch had wanted to hang out with some of her friends, but they were either working on the same, or they already had plans. It was either work on the paper or do nothing all day, as much as she wanted to do nothing all day the essay was due the following, and she was down to crunch time. 

She was so focused on finishing her paper, that she completely missed dinner and by the time that she looked at the clock it was 8:20. 

The moment that Penelope registered the time, she felt a pang of hunger hit her as her body had also lost track of time as well, “Great,” She said with the largest amount of sarcasm that she could muster, “Just fan-freaking-trasic,” 

All of the emotions from the day seemed to hit her all a once and though it had not been the worst day of her life, she found herself feeling stressed and just upset. It was strange for her to get like this, but she couldn’t help the overflow of emotions. While Penelope did not shed a tear, anyone who looked at her face would know that she was breaking down just a little. Now, Penelope Park did not break down much, what she was experiencing at that moment was just a little the effects of a bad day with a paper that she wasn’t sure she was going to get done in time. 

Penelope found herself sitting on her bed for five minutes, just laying there and staring up at the ceiling, “Penelope are you ok?” A voice asked from the doorway. 

She instantly knew that voice, the voice of Josie Saltzman. It was like a little bit of light in her otherwise dark day. Penelope quickly sat up, composing herself as soon as she could, “Yeah, course I am,” She said, giving Josie her signature smirk, “Are you ok?”  
She turned it right back to Josie, trying to get the girl as flustered as possible as quickly as possible. It didn’t seem to work as well as she thought, Josie only gave her a confused look, “Why wouldn't I be?” She asked, suddenly getting a little bit nervous.  
Penelope knew that she had to play it off, “You just seem a little flustered is all,” She said slyly as she moved a little closer to the girl expecting Josie to move back as she did so, but Josie stayed right were she was, “I know I have that kind of effect on you,”  
“Believe me, I’m fine,” Josie said, “I was just walking by, and you seemed completely out of it, and then I remembered that you didn’t get lunch or dinner and,” 

Josie was starting to ramble, and Penelope cut her off before she was able to get much farther, “I see you still care about me, how lucky I must be,” She said with a smile, not a rude or sarcastic smile, but a legitimate smile to show that she also cared.

Now she had made Josie flustered, and while she kept it cool on the outside, she couldn’t stop the butterflying that filled her on the inside. It was clear to the raven-haired girl that Josie had no idea was to do next, and she loved it. 

Josie had opened and closed her mouth as she tried to come up with something to say to her, but could not find it, “I hate you, Penelope Park,” The words had just left her mouth when it happened. 

There was a bang, the sound of a gunshot that was followed by the sound of breaking glass, and then a sharp sting on Penelope side. Screams filled the house and panic issued. 

Penelope didn’t have time to register anything, not even the pain before Josie suddenly jerked forward and started to fall into Penelope. The raven-haired girl reacted quickly, catching Josie as she fell and trying to figure out what was happening.  
Due to the sudden weight in her arms, she fell to the floor and brought Josie down to the hardwood floor with her. She turned Josie over in a matter of seconds, trying to figure out what was happening. It took her less than a second to see the ever expanding red stain in her perfect white shirt. 

When she saw the gunshot wound, Penelope froze. Sure she had seen some pretty bad stuff, but it had never been someone that she cared so much for, “Help!” She screamed, her voice strained and full of fear, “Help!” she called out again.  
“Penelope,” Josie said, breaking through Penelope’s hysteria, “you’ve been hit,” 

The raven-haired girl almost laughed, the girl had just been critically shot and here she was worrying about Penelope. It was in the moment that Penelope registered the pain in her side and looked down to see a small bullet wound. From her quick inspection, it didn’t look deep and differentially was not as bad as Josie’s. 

“You're going to be ok Jojo,” Penelope said in a panic voice as she watched Josie to start to have trouble breathing. She felt something warm on her pants and looked down to see blood pouring from a second bullet hole. The shot was a through and through. Penelope grabbed a shirt from the ground along with another cloth that she had laying around, she didn't look at what it was. 

She put pressure on the wounds, trying her best to keep Josie alive, “Help!” She screamed again, but no one was coming. She could not hear any footsteps. 

“The house is in lockdown,” Josie said, her voice weak as she spoke. She started to cough after that, coughing up blood onto Penelope’s shirt and face. On normal circumstance, she would have been disgusted, but at that moment she didn’t care, “No one,” another cough, after that one Penelope turned Josie to her side and saw her spit up blood. Oh, it was so much blood, “is coming,” 

She was growing weaker, Penelope could tell, “Don’t let go, Jojo,” She said, tears streaming down her face and her voice breaking, “I need you,” 

“I don’t want to go,” Josie said, her lips stained with fresh red blood and her face growing paler by the second. Penelope had never heard her sound as scared as she did at that moment, her voice shaking and her eyes tearing up. It was terror like Penelope had never seen. 

“I’m not letting you go,” Penelope said, though she knew that there was nothing that she could do. She didn’t know how to use healing spells, and she was sure that even if she did she would not be able to cast them, “I’m going to save you, I promise,”  
Josie held onto Penelope’s arm, clutching it as if her life depended on it, “Penny,” She said with as much strength that she could muster. Penelope smiled through her tears at the nickname that Josie had given her when they were dating.  
“You have no idea how much I missed you calling me that,” she said, still keeping the pressure on Josie’s wounds, she would not let go of her hope. 

“Penny,” Josie said again, knowing that Penelope loved it, “I don’t hate you,” she said firmly before coughing up more blood. Penelope knew that she had such a small amount of time left and there was nothing that she could do, but she could never accept it, “I never stopped loving you,” 

Penelope held Josie close, “Josie you don’t have to say what you don’t mean, you're going to be okay, I’m going to save you,” 

Josie shed a final tear, looking up at the girl who she could never bring herself to hate, no matter how hard she tried to, “I,” She said, bringing in one of her final breaths, “I love you, Penelope Park,”

Penelope saw her eyes close, “I love you, Josie Saltzman,” She said, “I’m going to save you, I promise you, I’m going to save you. It doesn’t matter what I have to do, I will save you, I promise,” 

Josie squeezed Penelope’s hand one final time before she let her final breath go and her body went limp. The raven-haired girl was left shaking, whatever calmness she had before was gone, and all that was left was a fury of anger, “No!” She screamed, unleashing all of her power with this one scream, “I promised I’d save her!”

All the windows broke, and her things were thrown around the room. It was a burst of magic that she had never experienced, the power that flowed through her was more than she knew that she had and it looked terrifying, Penelope Park covered in blood, with a gunshot in the side, and a large amount of blood spatter across her face. 

Her head was spinning, unable to comprehend what was happening and what had happened just moments before. It felt impossible to grasp and she found herself in a state of denial and shock. She was frozen in place and yet her mind was moving at rapid speeds. 

Josie was still on her lap, her eyes closed. Penelope wanted to believe that she was just sleeping, but her chest no longer rose and fell with study breaths and it never would again. How was she going to process something like this, Josie had only been gone for a few seconds and she was already missing her like the world. 

Penelope felt herself become dizzy and her vision started to swirl and blur. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the blood loss from the gunshot in the side, shock, or some other problem she was unaware of. 

While she sat on the ground, looking at Josie, she could feel her senses started to fade and disappear. Instinctively, Penelope started to fight it, trying to stay awake even if she knew in the back in her mind that it was a losing battle. She leaned up against her bed and held Josie’s hand and said, “I’m sorry Jojo, I’m so sorry,” before finally letting go and allowing the darkness to overtake her.

. . .

The moment that she closed her eyes, she was falling. It was dark and only rejuvenating for her. She felt herself growing stronger and less exhausted then she was only moments before, it was like nothing she had experienced before. 

If she was being honest, it was scary. Penelope could not shake the fear that she was feeling at she fell. Her heart raced and her mind searched for a way to make this all stop, but she could do nothing. Penelope could not see or feel her arms, legs, or any part of her body; she was paralyzed both physically and mentally. She tried to scream, but she had either lost her hearing or ability to speak; maybe it was both. 

Then just as soon as it had started, it stopped and Penelope landed against a soft and familiar material. It didn’t hurt, something that she was incredibly thankful for. 

Penelope quickly sat up, breathing deeply as she tried to take in her surroundings. She opened her eyes, running of her hands through her short brown haired while the other kept her propped up. 

She was in her room, but it was different. She scanned it quickly, looking it over in a matter of seconds. The sun was shining through the one window that she had not put curtains on, all the others had the curtains closed. None of her stuff was thrown about, it was all in the same state that it had been in the morning before. It was like nothing had ever happened. There was no blood on the floor and no smell of bleach, like there was never any blood. 

It was her alarm that shook her out of her trance, playing that same song that it always did, only she didn’t remember setting it. She never had an alarm for Sunday’s, it was the one day that she never set an alarm. 

“Weird,” Penelope said and she turned it off with ease, careful not to knock it over like she did the day before. It was then that she noticed that there was no gunshot wound in her side, there was not even a mark where it was before. 

“Penelope, I need my book back!” A voice shouted into her room, followed by a pounding at the door. She knew that voice, it was the voice of someone that she loved, but that person was dead and had been murdered right in front of her.

Even with that in mind, Penelope still had hope and launched herself towards the door and threw it open. There standing in front of her was Josie Saltzman. There was not a blemish on the girl and she looked the same as she had the day before, but she had died. Josie had died and yet there she was, alive. 

Millions of questions rushed through Penelope head, she couldn’t believe that Josie was alive. Was the last day she had lived through all a dream? Had Josie’s death just been some hyper-realistic dream? Or had something else happened.  
Penelope wasn’t sure about that part, but she sure as hell knew she was going to figure it out. After all, she had a promise to keep.


	3. Failure 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope has gone through her first loop; now she has to figure out what was real and what was fiction.

Penelope was frozen in place, staring at Josie as her mind tried to process what was going on, “So, can I have my book back?” Josie asked, breaking Penelope from the trance that she was currently in. 

The raven-haired witch quickly shook her head once or twice, using it as a way to focus on the girl standing before her. The girl that she had just watch die only minutes before, “Um, uh, yeah,” Penelope said, sputtering out her words as she turned around to find the book that Josie so desperately wanted back. She found it in the same place that it was in the day before; or in same place as her her dream from the night before, she wasn’t sure. She handed the book over to Josie, her hand shaking as she did so, “Here,” Even though she had all of her focus on maintaining a calm composure, it was clear to Josie that Penelope was nervous about something. 

Though Josie knew that someone was off with Penelope, she took the book from her, “You better not have written in it,” she said. Penelope’s eyes widened when she heard Josie say those words, the exact same words that she had said the last that they had done this. Josie noticed Penelope’s perplexed appearance, “My dad would kill me,” she added on before turning away and leaving. 

Penelope watched her go, frozen in her spot in the doorway. She couldn’t help but notice the small skip in her step as if she was excited about the coming day. The sunlight shone brightly against her white shirt, the same white shirt that had just been covered in blood. 

The raven-haired witch slowly closed the door, stepping into her room and looking around confused and disoriented, “What is happening?” She asked, though it was to no one intercooler and there was no one there to answer. Penelope had just watched Josie die, held her as she admitted that she still loved her, and was powerless to watch as she took her final breaths. It had all felt so real, so real in fact that she could see feel the blood on her arms even if there was nothing truly there, “It was all a dream,” Penelope said, wrapping her hands around her neck and taking deep, controlled breaths, “it was all a dream?” she said again, this timeless certain of her words. 

. . . 

Penelope sat on her bed, frozen in thought, for a long time. It was like her mind was moving at a hundred miles while hardly moving at all. It would a weird state for her to be in, one that she was utterly puzzled by. 

“Ok,” She said, picking herself up from her bed and got down onto the floor, peering under the bed for the one thing that she needed. She found it quickly, focusing on the small wooden box in the far corner from her. The box itself was old, apparently at least seventy five years old, and decorated with carvings of gems and flowers. Despite its age, it was in good shape and had very little damage to it. Penelope focused her magic on pulling the box towards her, smiling a little as it slowly made itself way over to her. 

Once she had it in her hand, she pulled leaned against her bed and opened it up. Inside was a few of her deeply personal things, items that she would never let anyone else see or even have knowledge of their existence. Penelope sorted through the small number of things inside, looking for the one thing that she needed. She pulled out the old pictures of her family, photos that were creased with age, the few pieces of jewelry, and two pictures of her and Josie until all that was left was her personal journal. 

Her journal, a beaten leather book bound with a leather tie, was similar to a diary, though she refused to call it as such. It wasn’t that she was against having a diary, she just preferred to call it a journal or notebook. Penelope flipped to the first blank page, grabbing a pen from her bedside table as she did so.   
The witch took a deep breath, “Okay Penelope,” She said, “Write down what you know, just sort though everything,” She made a bullet point and started to fill in the page. 

“I am either reliving a whole day, which is highly unlikely, or I had a very hyper-realistic dream. I had almost the exact same conversation with Josie at almost the exact same time. Finally, I watched her die at night, and now she is not?” She trailed off at the end of her train of thought, ending her list in a question.

Penelope looked down at her journal that held her complete list and found herself smiling, oddly enough. She could not help but smile and even laugh a little at her antics. It was ridiculous, she thought, for her to think that it was even possible that she was reliving a day and that Josie had died, Josie was perfectly fine. The most ridiculous part might just be that she thought that Josie had said that she loved her, Penelope knew that Josie would never say that to her. 

Penelope laughed, tossing her notebook onto the ground as she said, “I’m going crazy, I’m absolutely losing my mind,” The raven haired pulled herself onto her feet, shaking her head as she did so, “It was all a dream, that's all it was,”

While she said the words, she had a hard time believing them. That whole dream, no nightmare, had felt so real. It was like she could still feel the blood seeping through her clothes and onto her skin, feel the sharp pain from where the bullet had embedded itself into her, and feel the warm drops of Josie’s blood dripping down her face. Penelope knew that she was being crazy, but the feelings that the nightmare had given her were not going away easy. 

Her stomach growled, reminding her that it was about 10 minutes until lunch was over and bring her back down to earth. It was a reminder that time was still moving and that she still had the rest of the day ahead of her. Penelope made her way over to her closet, pulling out the same clothes that she had worn in her dream. This time, they were not covered in Josie’s blood and looked just a clean as the day she had bought them. Even though she mind told her she was being crazy; Penelope looked over the clothes for any signs of what happened in her dream. 

She pulled them on, along with her black heeled boots and quickly looked herself over in the mirror. The girl’s hair was a bit of a mess, but Penelope knew that if she tried to fix it, she would not have any time left in lunch. With this in mind, she combed through it with her fingers, making it look just a little presentable before deeming herself good to go. 

Penelope grabbed her backpack which held her computer and teleportation notes and put it on. She grabbed her phone on the way out, checking to see if she had any notifications and saw two. A text from Josie, asking if she was awake and if she could have her book back and a text from Mg, asking for her help on homework that was at least a week late. 

The raven-haired witch made her way out of her room while she texted Mg that she could help him tomorrow. Penelope didn’t bother replying to Josie as she had already given her back her book and there was no need to. While she did want to tease the brunette, she knew that it wouldn't do any good and only made Josie more annoyed with her than she already was. 

As Penelope walked down the stairs and towards the dining hall, she passed by Lizzie, Hope, and Josie having a conversation with each other. Josei didn’t seem to notice Penelope as she walked by, but right after the raven-haired witch passed her, Josie let out a powerful laugh.

Hearing Josie laugh, specifically hearing her laugh at that moment, nearly caused Penelope to freeze right where she stood and turn and stare at the group. She fought this urge and kept walking towards the dining hall, though a panic was quickly filling her. That exact same thing that happened in her dream and it had happened at the exact same time as it did in her dream. 

Penelope’s mind was racing with these thoughts as she made it to the dinning hall and made a beeline for the remains of the lunch that was served, “Weird,” She said under her breath after she noticed that the food that was left over was the same as it was before. Whatever Deja Vu she was experiencing was crazy accurate. 

“Huh,” A voice said from behind her, “what’s weird?” It was Mg, Penelope would know that voice anywhere. She turned around and saw the vampire drinking animal blood as he was before, wearing the same clothes as he was before. 

“There just, uh, not much left,” Penelope said quickly, her mind felt numb and like it was unable to come up with the correct words to say. 

Mg laugh let out a small laugh, “What did you expect P,” He said with a smile, “That's what happens when you come to lunch in the last five minutes,” 

“Maybe you should get up earlier,” Penelope and Mg said at the same time. While Mg had been speaking, saying the same thing that he had told her last time, Penelope saw a chance to test her knowledge of what was going to happen. If she was right, then she knew exactly what he was going to say to her and should be able to repeat it with him. 

Mg raised his eyebrow at her, “You reading my mind P?” He asked the concern was written across his face. 

The raven-haired witch only gave him a panic looked as she turned around and grabbed the two apples that she had taken last time, stuffing them into her backpack as fast as she could. Then she dashed over to the ice chest and reached in to grab the two bottles of water that she knew were in there. Then she heard it, the pounding of feet slamming into hardwood. 

“Penelope, look out!” Mg called out, but he knew that Penelope did not have enough time to hear him, process what he had said, and react accordingly. 

Penelope reacted quickly, sliding right out of the way with the two bottles in hand just in time for two boys to slam into the ice chest and dench themselves in the ice cold water. Only a bit of water splashed up and hit Penelope, but it didn’t matter to her. If she had not slid out of the way, something she had done with only milliseconds to spare, she would have been knocked into it. 

Suddenly her mind was kicked into high gear, whatever numbness she had been feeling only moments before was gone. Penelope looked up, her eyes making contact with Mg who was looking at her with shock and confusion. He knew that the reaction Penelope had just made should have been impossible, there was just not enough time, and yet she had still gotten out of the way. 

“How did you,” He started to ask, but he didn’t get an answer. Penelope, upon seeing what had just happened sprinted out of the room. 

She didn't know where she was going, but all she knew was that she had to get away and figure whatever this was out. 

. . .

After Penelope had run away from the dining hall, running without a clear destination. She just knew that she had to get away, get away from it all. Mg didn’t call after her, instead only turning and watching her go. She ignored the looks the other students gave her when she was passing them by. She sprinted until her physically could not keep going, moving until her legs gave out from under her. 

Penelope troubled over her own two feet, crashing towards the earth. She turned in the air, slamming into the rocky ground on her side and rolling for a few feet before coming to a halt. As she hit the ground, she heard a sound that was similar to a twig snapping, the sound of glass shattering, and felt pain burst through her left leg. 

Once she had stopped moving, she lay on the ground and tried to keep herself from screaming out in pain. The pain she had felt in her leg was unbearable, and she had to grit her teeth and gripp the earth beneath her to keep from yelling out. Penelope started to take steady breaths, trying to slow her speeding heart rate even a little. It wasn’t doing much good, and after five minutes, the raven-haired witch sat up and started to access her injuries. 

It only took one look at her leg for her to know that it was broken. The distorted shape it was in and the pain she was feeling told her that instantly. Penelope looked over the rest of herself as best she could, but it was hard to do so sitting on the ground. The witch pulled her phone out of her back pocket, hoping to use the camera as a mirror for her to look over her face. As she grabbed it, she sat up a little more and put far to much pressure on her left leg. Pain shot through it, reminding her just how injured she was. 

Penelope, while trying as hard as she could, was unable to contain the powerful scream that welled up inside of her. It burst out, filling the air around her. It was a scream of pure agony, but nonetheless, she pulled the phone out. It was broken, the screen cracked, and it wouldn’t turn on, “Great,” She said as she went back to the task of assessing herself. 

Using the screen as a mirror, she saw that she had a cut across her cheek, but that was the only angry on her face. She was covered in dirt for sure, but her face was otherwise clear. Her arms, however, were covered in small cuts as well as dirt and grime. There was some gravel stuck in the cuts, and when she reached up to the touch the cuts on her face, she noticed that there were some rocks in it as well. 

Overall, her face looked a lot worse for the ware than it was; the same could not be said for her leg. No, that was broken.

“Okay Penelope, pull yourself together,” she told herself through gritted teeth as she took deep breaths, trying to do so in even breaths despite the massive amounts of pain she was in. 

The raven-haired witch knew that she had to get back to the school, the only problem was she didn’t know how far she had run which meant that she did not know how far away the school was. It was her best guess that she had run for maybe thirty to forty minutes, but she could not be sure. With her phone not working, there was no telling how long it was going to take her to get back. 

She looked around her, hoping to find a stick that she could use as a walking stick or crutch to support herself, there was not way that she was going to hop all the way back to school on one foot. It did not take her long to find one that looked like it was going to be strong enough to support most of her weight. The only problem was that it was at the very least twenty feet away. 

Penelope shook her head and focused, “Nothing a little magic can’t fix,” she said with a sly smile as she slowly brought the stick over towards her. It was a slow doing, she was weak due to the injuries on her and the ringing in her ears, but it made its way over to her eventually. 

Once it was in her hand, Penelope slowly stood up all the while trying to put next to no weight on her broken leg. Even putting the smallest amount of pressure caused her to scream through her still gritted teeth, “God!” she shouted, “I should have learned some healing spells!”

It only took her ten minutes, but soon enough she was standing, and she had a chance to look around her look at her surroundings. Penelope knew which way she had come and when she had ran out there, she was only running in a straight line, so she knew the way back to the school. The raven-haired witch was hoping that she was just off of one of the trails that were around the school because she knew that many of the wolves and other students like to run them around this time, if she was close to the trails then it might be a hell of a lot easier getting back. 

Unfortunately for her, it didn’t seem that she was anywhere near the trails and instead was in the middle of the forest. Slowly, she started the long walk back to the school. She limped on and with each step enormous amounts of pain shot through her. Penelope hoped that she would develop a tolerance to it, that hope was misplaced. 

. . .

It was dark when Penelope finally made it back to the school, in worse condition then she was in only hours before if that could even be possible. She had long since downed the two bottles of water she had and eaten the two apples, but she was still dehydrated and starving. 

Her foot aches and her leg throbs with pain, the small amount of pain she had in her head had grown into a full migraine. 

Penelope very nearly let out tears of joy when she finally made it back to the school and saw the building come out through the trees. There were a few other students standing outside, and they quickly noticed her, but it wasn’t any of them that caught her eye. 

Mg, who was standing outside talking to a few of his friends, was one of the first ones to notice her. Penelope was sure that it was the blood that caught his attention, but she wasn’t about the get into that, and she didn’t care. 

The only person that she cared about was just stepping outside when Penelope was walking to the front lawn. Josie Saltzman stepped outside with a book in hand and started to make her way over to the benches nearby. 

Penelope watched her go, smiling a little as she watched the girl that she loved to cross the lawn without a care in the world. 

There was a bang. 

Josie fell to the ground. 

. . .

Penelope woke up quickly, shooting up into the sitting position as her alarm sounded throughout the room. She sat frozen, shaking in fear and shock for a few seconds before there was a pounding at her door, “Penelope, I need my book back!” Josie yelled through the wood. 

Penelope shed a single tear as everything fell into place and she realized what was happening, “Oh God, oh God,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this chapter is a little short and I am sorry about it. Even with that, please let me know what you think about this. I love reading your comments, and they make me very happy, so please leave one. You can subscribe to this story to get notified when it is updated.   
> Until next time.


	4. Failure 17

Penelope sat on the floor of her room, leaning up against the wall. One leg was outstretched while the other was bent so that she could rest her hand on her knee. She had already given Josie back her book for the seventh time after watching her die for the sixteenth time. 

It was Penelope’s fault, all of it. Josie wouldn’t have died if she hadn't failed the shield spell, she had been so sure she had perfected. She had done it correctly before when shielding herself from ping-pong ball and even then, it was only a partial shield. It didn’t protect her whole body, just the part of her body that the ball was going to hit. Even still, she had done it. She had made a shield that stopped the shot from hitting her, but she couldn’t do it to stop a bullet from slamming into Josie’s chest. 

Penelope was so sure that she knew it, so confident that she knew the specific movement, words, and actions to successfully produce a shield in front of Josie and save her life. Even with all that confidence, Penelope still failed. The moment that she was there, standing maybe ten feet from Josie, she froze. Everything around her had seemed to slow down as she started to stutter through the incantation and speed through the movement of the spell. She knew, at that moment, that she was messing up the spell and it wasn’t going to work, but she wanted, no needed, it to work. 

Even with the knowledge that it was not going to work, she still tried to force it. The amount of will and force she put into it was higher than ever before, and it still was not enough. The bullet hit Josie, just like it always did. She could practice again that afternoon; Mg was only free after three anyway. 

Penelope, sitting with the same blank stare on her face, started to think. She racked her brain for any form of a solution that she could come up with, what could she do differently? What could she change about the loop so that she could save Josie? The brunette realized that she might need a little help with magic, a little bit more power to get the shield to work like she wanted to it. 

“Well, who do I think of when I think about powerful witches?” Penelope asked out loud, though she was not speaking to no one. She waited for a moment as if she was waiting for someone to answer her, “Hope, my favorite tribrid.” 

Granted, Penelope did not think very much of Hope; she had more respect for her before she found out just how much the tribrid was hiding. However, she didn’t have any idea about what to do. She was running out of ideas, Penelope was so freaked out and emotionally destroyed from having to watch Josie die 15, no 16 times. Every time, in some cruel twist of fate, Penelope, was there to see it. 

Penelope did not know how much longer she could go on watching Josie die and she didn’t know if she only had a few loops left before she would finally wake up Sunday and Josie’s death would be permanent. 

. . .

Penelope found Hope sitting with Landon in the living room. They looked like they were deep in conversation, a conversation that Penelope knew was going to be struggled to get them to stop. She made a mental note to memorize where people were during the day; it might end up making her nightmare just a little better. 

“Hope,” Penelope called out, sauntering over to the pair and making eye contact with the other girl who looked up with annoyance clear on her face, “I need your help.”

The girl took a deep breath, making quick eye contact with Landon before looking at Penelope once again, “Now's not a great time, maybe tomorrow.” 

Hope turned back to Landon and tried to restart the conversation, completely blocking Penelope out before she could even continue. Though, Penelope was not going to take that and walk away, “No, tomorrow doesn’t work for me,” and with that, Penelope threw Landon across the room. 

. . .

Penelope had dragged Hope out of the room and looking back on it; she had done it a bit forcefully, “Penelope, what the hell is going on with you?” The girl asked as the dark-haired girl forced her into an empty room and shut the door behind them. The witch quickly put a lock spell on the door so that no one would be able to enter, “you're freaking me out.” 

Penelope turned back around to face Hope once again, and she was able to see the worry in her eyes. There was still an overwhelming amount of annoyance present, but the concern and fear was there. Hope had known Penelope long enough to know that if and when Penelope got to the state that she was currently in, something was wrong. 

With that in mind, Hope took a slow step towards the dark-haired girl and saw that she was shaking slightly, “Alright, take a deep breath,” she said, allowing her annoyance to fade away and replace it with kindness and calmness, “tell me what is wrong.” 

The dark-haired witch took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she did so, “Josie is going to die in 6 hours, and I need your help to stop it.”

Hope stood still, her jaw-dropping as she looked at Penelope with wide and frightened eyes. It was clear to Penelope that Hope was having trouble processing what she had just told her, or maybe she was trying to figure out if she believed her or not. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she spoke, “I-I’m sorry w-w-what? She asked. Penelope just nodded slowly; her eyes started to fill with water that threatened to fall but never did, “How could you possibly know that?”

“Because,” Penelope took a step towards the girl, forcing her walls to rebuild in a matter of seconds, “I’ve lived through it sixteen times.”

Hope stood there frozen, staring at Penelope with eyes that quickly became vacant and dull. It was almost as if she shut down for a few moments before finally returning to her body and uttering a single word, “What.” 

The desperation in Penelope’s eyes only seemed to grow as it became clear to her that Hope was not getting it. She leaned in closer, grabbing onto Hope’s shoulders and gripping them so hard that her knuckles turned white, “I have watched Josie die sixteen times already, I cannot watch her die any again. I will not make it.”

That did it. Hope finally seemed to understand that Penelope was serious, or she managed to pull herself together. The girl moved Penelope’s in such a way that it allowed her to pull witch into a tight hug. It was the only way that Hope knew might provide Penelope with any comfort. If she was honest, she had no idea how much of this she could believe. 

Penelope Park was known for being manipulative, cunning, and ruthless. It was not uncommon for her to use her lie and influence to get people to do what she wanted. With this in mind, Hope could not help but feel as she was being tricked or was at least being used by the witch for her own gain. It was small, but it was there, and it was very hard to ignore. The fact that this had to do Josie did not aid in the girl’s judgment on the truthfulness of Penelope’s case. The witch had been trying, though many cunning plans to get back her ex, and all had failed. 

However, there was something different about this time. Penelope looked and sounded so unlike herself that it wasn’t that hard to believe, even though it was an insane story. 

“What do you need from me?” Hope finally asked, looking Penelope in the eye and speaking with determination.

. . . 

Hope has to admit, Penelope had her whole plan figured out. She knew when everything was going to happen, acting like she was on a schedule. The only problem was time; they didn’t have enough of it. Hope tried and tried, but she couldn’t get the shield spell down. She had enough power, that was a fact, but she didn’t have the skill. Penelope tried to teach her, she did, and Hope was amazed at the skill that the girl had, but it wasn’t enough. 

“Penelope, I can’t do it,” Hope said, supporting herself against the wall, she was drained. Using her powers for hours on end didn’t do much good, she felt so weak.  
“What’s the point,” Penelope said, sitting down and holding her head in her hands, “We won’t be able to do it this time.”

“What do you mean?” Hope asked, looking at Penelope with confusion in her eyes.

“We’ve got a few minutes, I think, Josie will be coming to find you any moment now.”

Right on cue, Josie called out from the hallway, “Hope!”

Hope looked up at Penelope, almost as if she was waiting for the other girl to give her confirmation and tell her what to do. Penelope just nodded and started to prepare herself for what was about to happen. “I’m in here,” Hope called back. 

Penelope saw Josie pop into the room, with a smile on her face. A smile that disappeared the moment that her eyes landed on Penelope, “Oh, um,” She started, but couldn’t seem to find the right words. 

“Don’t worry; I was just leaving,” Penelope said as she stood up and started to make her way past Josie so she could leave the room, “I’ll talk to you later.”  
Hope nodded and then turned back to Josie, who immediately lit up once Penelope was gone and away from them. Penelope didn’t know what they were talking about, but she knew that it was making Josie happy, so what did it matter. 

She heard the gunshot when she was just about to start climbing the stairs. She felt a burning in her arm and a scream. It was Hope, screaming as Josie fell into her arms. Penelope looked down, feeling the world moving in slow motion as she did, and saw a bullet hole in it. It was through and through, but still had enough force to hit Josie. 

Hope’s eyes locked with Penelope’s figure and start to look the raven-haired girl over, checking her any more injuries. She finally meets Penelope’s gaze, and the witch saw her eyes begin to glow, maybe from grieve and possibly from anger. It was not clear. 

“You better fix this!” She screamed, the fangs in her mouth clear as crystal. 

Finally, Penelope’s vision started to fade, and she started falling. 

“One more round,” She thought, sure that this next time would be the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it me so long to update, but I'm back.   
> You can subscribe to this work to get a notification every time I update.   
> I'll see you in the next one.


	5. Failure 97

Penelope could turn her alarm off the moment it started to blast that song, and she could do it without looking. 

She was moving over to her desk moments later, grabbing the book that Josie would be coming for sooner rather than later. Penelope opened the door right before Josie was about to knock and practically threw the book into her hands. She didn’t look at the girl outside her room, just gave her the book and closed the door. 

Penelope had work to do. 

After so many failed attempts, Penelope had pretty much given up on the shield idea though that didn’t stop her from making it a last-ditch effort. She had mastered the spell and had grown quite proficient with it, but it clearly wasn’t working. Hope, the feeling not the person, was the only thing that made her keep using it. 

Standing alone in her room, Penelope looked around and took some deep breaths. Just breathe, she thought as she pushed her short hair out of her eyes. What she was doing was not working, so what else could she do.

“Okay, what do I need to do to save Josie?” Penelope asked aloud, maybe talking through it will help her think of what to do. No, that was a wrong question; it was too broad for her to answer, and she didn’t know enough information. “Alright, new question,” She said, “What do I need to know to save Josie?” That felt like something she could answer. 

The witch reached into her desk and pulled out a new notebook. She had about five journals she hadn’t started using, now seemed like as good a time as any to break in a new one plus it wasn’t like it was going to keep whatever she wrote in it when she looped. 

Penelope opened it up and grabbed a pencil and titled the first page with the question she felt was most important; what do I need to know? The started to fill it out with whatever information she wanted to know. Granted, there was a lot she needed to know, but it wasn’t like she was going to run out of time to figure everything out. 

It didn’t take her long to almost fill the whole page, and when she looked down at what she was written, Penelope could not help but feel an immense amount of panic build up inside her chest. There was so much she didn’t know, and she had no idea how long it was going to take her to figure it out. 

Penelope started to take short and quick breaths. In and out at a rapid speed. The witch's heart began to race as the fear continued to grow. It was ever-flowing and seemed to the only compound in its strength. I can’t breathe, Penelope thought as she tried to force air into her lungs which only caused her to breath quicker. She tried to slow her breathing, but she didn’t have any control. I’m going to die kept finding its way into her mind, repeating itself over and over again. Logically she knew that she wasn’t going to die, but for some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling. 

She took a breath, and everything stopped, but only for a moment. At that moment, all was still. She didn’t take a breath. Her mind ran blank. Everything around her was silent. It was at that moment that Penelope was able to take back a small amount of control. 

“Deep breaths,” Penelope told herself as she tried to force the panic back and regain complete control over herself. Rapidly, her heart rate began to fall and the fear dissipated from inside her. It fell away just as quickly as it had arisen. 

Once everything was silent again, Penelope could start thinking and planning her next move. The logical thing to do seemed to pick something from her list and then find the answer, from there, she could figure out how to complete her overall goal; saving Josie’s life. 

She wanted to jump in the deep end and tackle the most significant problem first, but Penelope knew that starting with something small would be the best idea. Starting with something that she knew would help her, in the long run, was going to be the best option. Penelope knew which ones to begin with. 

It became clear to her that if she picked the right questions, then she could concentrate more on more than one each time she looped through the day. So, she decided to get Josie’s schedule and daily routine figured out during the day, and then when it happened, she could figure a little bit about the bullet that did it.

If I can know where she is, without my interference, when, Penelope stopped herself, she didn’t want to think about it. She couldn’t face saying those words, let alone think them. She knew what was going to happen, she had seen it more times than someone ever should, but she still could not bring herself to face it and look it in the eyes. 

The feeling she felt was complex and confusing, it was feeling that she knew well but could never pinpoint. It was a strange mix of terror, absolute terror, and red, hot, and powerful anger. Penelope wanted to rip whoever was doing this apart and yet she couldn't bring herself to face what they were doing. 

It doesn’t matter, I’ve got a promise to keep, she thought as she grabbed her notebook and walked out of the room. 

. . . 

Keeping track of what Josie did was challenging, to say the least. Penelope had to do it in such a way that she could write down and memorize where Josie was and who was around, but she also had to try to be discreet about it. She didn’t want Josie to know that she was following her around. 

In the end, she got what she needed, or she got all she was going to get for the loop she was currently in. When she had thirty minutes before it happened, Penelope went outside where she knew Josie would be in the end. That was constant. If Josie didn’t go by her room, then she was always outside when she went down. It was pretty much the only part of her ex-lovers day that she memorized only due to the pain. 

Penelope sat under a tree with her notebook in her lab. She kept reading over the two pages that she had filled, the first page was her list of questions, and the second was Josie’s movements throughout the day. Penelope had to memorize everything that she had written so she could write it out again when she looped. She was hoping that thirty minutes was going to be enough time for her to lock everything within her mind. 

The witch had also prepared a miner spell for when...she still didn’t like to think about it in that way. It was near impossible for her to think about that moment as Josie getting shot and dying; instead, Penelope preferred to think about it as her looping again. If she was being honest, it was less of a preference and more of a requirement. She quite literally could not think about it in any other way, she tried and failed to do something as simple as that. 

It didn’t matter, Penelope had the spell ready. The only purpose of it was to provide her with some necessary information about the bullet. It was only going to tell her what metals it was made of, size (if she was lucky), and most importantly if it was magical in any way. Penelope would have like to have prepared a better spell but didn’t have the time, so she was going to have to settle with the one she had. 

Soon enough, an alarm on her phone went off, and she quickly turned it off. It was about to happen, and she had to be ready. Mentally she didn’t know if she could take it, but she was out of time, and she could avoid it. No matter how much she wanted to turn away, this time, she had to look at it in the eyes and push passed everything. 

Penelope moved so that she could be right behind where Josie would be standing with it happened and prepared herself. She clutched her notebook, not sure if she had gotten all of it memorized. Josie walked outside; Penelope’s knuckles turned white due to her powerful grip on her notebook. 

As Penelope watched Josie walked down the stairs, she was thankful that the girl had not noticed her standing there watching her like she had done all day. With every step Josie took toward the ground, Penelope show flashes of what she knew were to come. She saw Josie on the grass, not moving with blood all over her clothes. 

Josie took another step, and Penelope saw her eyes lose the light they always seemed to hold.

Instead of a shoe colliding with wood, Penelope heard the gunshot. Josie was getting closer to the ground. 

When Josie took another step, Penelope saw the light leaving her eyes like it was the first loop all over again. 

Josie reached the grass and Penelope heard the shot, the real one this time it wasn’t all in her head. Penelope saw Josie starts to fall, blood spreading over her shirt, and she caught her just before she hit the ground.

The witch tried to zone out as she did the spell. She could hear Josie calling to her to help, but Penelope didn’t help in the way Josie thought that she would. She had to do this spell and get some answers, Josie could hate her this time if it saved her the next. 

The only answer Penelope got from the spell was that the bullet was magical, it was very magical. From what she could tell in the short time that she had was that it was old magic, stuff that was going to take a lot of power to destroy. 

Penelope looked up and saw that Josie was limp. She was out of time. 

With her notebook in one hand, Penelope leaned down to Josie’s lifeless form and whispered, “I’m going to save you. I promise.”

Then she felt herself being pulled back and she closed her eyes, Penelope revived in it this time around. She had more information, something had changed, and if everything went according to plan, it was for the better. 

. . .

When Penelope opened her eyes again, she turned off her alarm and grabbed the book off her desk. She quickly handed it to Josie without saying a word. 

I have to write this down before I forget, she thought as she dug through her desk for a pencil or pen. She didn’t know how well she had memorized the information from before and she wanted to get it written down as fast as possible. 

After what seemed like forever, she found her notebook. It was the same one that she used last time, Penelope liked it for whatever reason. 

Penelope opened up the front cover and let out a gasp. Her jaw dropped, and she fell to her knees, she knocked the notebook down in the process. Though she tried to fight it, she could not prevent a few tears from falling down her face and looked at what was before her. 

There, on the front page of the notebook, was her list. Her list of questions that she had written in the previous loop. 

Her notebook was looping with her.

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter is coming soon, so don't worry. You can subscribe to get notified when I post the next section. I would love it if you could leave a comment about what you thought about it. Any suggestions, reactions, or ideas would be fantastic. Also, let me know what you think about the title and if you have a better idea for what it should be. 
> 
> Until next time.


End file.
